It's nice to see you branch out from your usual shtick. I wouldn't call this angsty, as you have. This is more realistic. Two people with such a troubled past aren't going to reconcile their differences after just a conversation or two.

However, since I do know you, a bit of the suspense is gone. I'm hoping you can throw some surprises at us along the way to the inevitable.

It doesn't have to be blatant, but I would like to see something along the way that tells me everything isn't, or won't be, muffin baskets and rainbow kisses. I'm not saying I don't want them together, but I just don't want a week of moping and a happily ever after, as if the week of moping never happened.

For example, there is something very subtle in By Torpedoes or Chron's that (I think) nobody picked up on, or at least nobody said they did. It was just a sentence, but it conveyed that not everything was not rainbows and butterfly kisses like they appeared to be.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go ask the sky to stop being blue and the sun to stop rising and setting.

Ok guys so I'm actually in the middle of revising the story because it wasn't going to work the way I had it set up originally. Anyway, I finished revising Chapter 1, so make sure you give it a re-read. I'm going to work on ch. 2 next.

So here is most of the revision of chapter 2. I say "most" because it's done but I am not completely satisfied with the last paragraph so it may be tweaked a little when I upload to fanfiction.net

Spoiler:

Yoruichi took her time to get to the Squad Five barracks, opting to walk rather than use shunpo. She wanted to have a plan of action by the time she got there. She had no idea how the members would react to having a new captain, especially after what happened with their previous one. In particular, she was worried about Hinamori Momo, who had practically worshipped Aizen before he’d tried twice to kill her. Inoue Orihime had healed her physical wounds, but there was no easy cure for the wounds that were of an emotional nature. Yoruichi was all too aware of that, given her relationship with Sui-Feng. She’d have to tread very carefully at first, and work at building trust with her squad, including Momo.

She frowned, thinking about the best way to go about such an undertaking. Finally, she realized it would be best just to be her usual self. That way there would be no pretenses, and no charades to keep up. She knew that some of them would not appreciate her way of leading a squad, but hopefully at least her brutal style of training would convince them she wasn’t like Aizen; he’d always acted like a nice guy. With that decided, Yoruichi hastened her approach to the barracks. There was still enough time left in the day to start training right away once she got all the necessary introductions done.

A few flash steps later found her just outside the captain’s office. She walked in, and found Hinamori at the desk, doing paperwork. The vice captain looked up in surprise at Yoruichi’s arrival.

“Um, ok…Yoruichi,” Momo replied hesitantly. “But what do you mean, don’t call you ‘captain’?” Comprehension dawned on her face. “Are you going to be Squad Five’s new captain?”

“Yes,” Yoruichi answered. Momo looked relieved and apprehensive at the same time. “I’ll need your help, though,” Yoruichi added. “You’ve been their vice captain for a long time, so you must be familiar with the members of the squad. Do you think you could gather everyone up so I can introduce myself properly?”

Momo nodded. She stood up and Yoruichi was pleased to see that despite everything she’d been through, Momo carried herself with a sense of purpose. The young Shinigami led Yoruichi to the large common room where squad meetings were held on occasion, where she pointed to a large gong. “Let me teach you the easy way,” she smiled. “If you ring that, everyone will gather here. Just make sure to use kido so you’re not standing right next to it. Like this.” She demonstrated, shooting a small ball of kido at the gong. Upon impact, the gong sounded, echoing through the barracks.

It wasn’t very long before hundreds of Shinigami filtered into the room, their faces awash with curiosity at the unusual summoning. A number of them grew confused upon realizing that Momo wasn’t the only one there. Then they all grew quiet, realizing exactly who it was that was with their vice captain. There weren’t many Shinigami who didn’t know the Shunshin, after all.

Yoruichi, satisfied that she had everyone’s attention, started to speak. “My name is Yoruichi Shihouin, for those of you who aren’t familiar. You’re probably wondering what I am doing here. It’s a long story but the short answer is that I am your new captain.” There were cheers and gasps as the Shinigami began talking amongst themselves. She waited patiently for everyone to settle down. When it grew quiet again, she resumed speaking. “We will begin training today. But first, I want to explain a few things.” She looked out into the crowd. “My training is not for the faint of heart. You will train until you can’t move, and then you will train some more. You may hate me for it now, but the day when you might have died but you lived because you’re just a little bit faster, or a little bit stronger, or a little bit smarter, you will thank me for all the pain I’m going to put you through in the near future. It is better to be hated by someone alive than to be loved by someone dead.” She paused, and then continued. “I want you to think about what it is you are fighting for. People discover their true, inner powers when they want to protect something. It could be your life, your status, your honor, a loved one, or even a principle; whatever the reason, a fierce desire to protect is the key.”

She went on to explain what she wanted them to do, and when she was done, the squad members broke off into groups and dispersed, heading to the proper training area of the barracks. Yoruichi then explained to Momo what she wanted the vice captain to do, and they followed the squad. Together, they watched the squad go through their exercises. Every once in a while, Yoruichi would interject and talk to the squad members, and then show them something.

This continued the whole evening. When the squad members started to tire, Yoruichi kept to her word and made them keep going anyway. Momo was about to protest when she realized that Yoruichi dismissed those who truly couldn’t train anymore and was only keeping Shinigami who were still able to act. Eventually, Yoruichi dismissed the rest of the remaining squad.

“What do you think?” Momo asked hesitantly, once everyone else was gone.

“The squad is in better shape than others have made it out to be,” Yoruichi replied honestly. “Their hakuda and hoho is a bit weak, but from what I saw they are above average in kido and zanjutsu. Training will fix most of the problems.”

Momo nodded, a little relieved. “I think they like you already,” she offered. “Even without a haori on, they seemed to respect that you’re the new captain.”

“Oh, I’m glad you mentioned that because I almost forgot to ask if there are extras somewhere,” Yoruichi said.

“Yes, there are several new haori in the office,” Momo affirmed. “They were never worn by…the previous captain.” She coughed a little. “If you were worried about that, I mean.”

“I would have just washed them,” Yoruichi said, shrugging. “They’re only clothes.”

Yoruichi paused. “If I don’t wear it, then it will always be associated with a bad memory. At least this way I have a chance to change that and make it into a good memory.” For a moment, she allowed herself to wonder, somewhat regretfully, if Sui-Feng had thought the same when she’d first donned the Squad 2 haori. Then she forced herself back into the present, placing her hand on Momo’s shoulder. “But that’s enough for today. You were very helpful and I appreciate it. Tomorrow will be pretty busy, so why don’t you go and relax for the rest of the evening? If there is a captain’s meeting in the morning and I’m not here, start training the squad without me,” she added.

Momo smiled a little and nodded. “Okay, I will. See you tomorrow, Cap- Yoruichi.” She caught herself in time. “Good night.”

Yoruichi waited until Momo was gone before she headed back to what was now her office. She should have asked her vice captain where exactly the extra haori were, she thought, looking around the large room. On the other hand, she had intended to explore the office anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

She started with the desk, pulling out each drawer. Unsurprisingly, they were empty of any personal items. Many of the drawers were empty altogether, and the few drawers that had anything in them contained ordinary supplies; ink, pens, parchment, etc. The desk’s surface area was blank, and Yoruichi frowned at the lack of personality. She would have to bring in a few trinkets to make it feel homey, she decided.

She moved on to the tall cabinet standing against the side wall. “Aha!” Yoruichi exclaimed, seeing the extra haori the moment she opened the door. Checking for the new ones, she grabbed the haori closest to her and pulled it off the hook it was hanging from. Shrugging it on, she sighed as she discovered that haori were still not “one-size-fits-all”; the sleeves were too long, and the bottom of the haori pooled on the floor around her feet. She was sure someone would have invented a flexible haori by now, the way the Gotei 13 went through captains, but apparently she was ahead of her time in thinking so. Perhaps she’d bring it up to Kisuke or Kurotsuchi Mayuri, she thought, smirking to herself. In the meantime, she’d just have to get these haori hemmed. She grabbed a few more to take with her and tossed them on the empty desk before moving on to the next point of interest.

While the cabinet and desk managed to fit in with the ancient Japanese décor of the rest of the office, the locked file cabinet Yoruichi stopped in front of definitely did not. It was anachronistically metal, clearly influenced by modern western design with its matte black finish and angular proportions. Yoruichi knew from experience that files on every member of the squad were contained within. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a key. Unohana probably had the original, and Sui-Feng, as leader of the Onmitsukidou, would have a copy, but she didn’t feel like bothering either of them this late. She frowned a little that her thoughts kept leading her back to Sui-Feng. Maybe it would be more difficult than she thought to give things time.

Yoruichi pushed the thought to the back of her mind and considered her options. She could wait until tomorrow, or she could pick the lock. She liked the second option. It was immediate and she could practice her rusty lock picking skills. Fortunately, she always carried a small lock picking set with her, and she pulled it out of her boot to use, being careful not to hurt herself with the anken that were also hidden there.

She tested the file cabinet first for kido-based locks, as sometimes they were used for extra protection. Finding only a minor spell, she disabled it without any trouble, and moved on to using her tools. It didn’t take very long before she successfully unlocked the cabinet. The top drawer contained the files of all the seated officers. Yoruichi skipped Momo’s and grabbed the files for her third seat. She took them back to the desk to take a look at them, and started making notes of her own based on the day’s activities.

“So it’s true,” Sui-Feng said from the door. “You’re replacing Aizen.” She couldn’t help but say his name with distaste.

“It’s kind of fitting, don’t you think? Someone thought to be a traitor being reinstated in place of the real traitor?” Yoruichi asked rhetorically, unsurprised by Sui-Feng’s sudden appearance. “But yes, I am the new captain of Squad 5,” she explained.

Sui-Feng nodded. “I heard about it from a few of my sources. I came to bring you a key to the file cabinet, but I see you’ve already taken care of it.”

Yoruichi grinned and held out her lock picking kit. “I unlocked it the hard way.” At Sui-Feng’s incredulous look, Yoruichi’s grin widened. “What, you don’t have one? I’m surprised. I thought all ninja assassins carried lock picks. You can’t be stealthy if you have to break something to get past a lock,” she teased.

Sui-Feng rolled her eyes, but her lips were curled just a little. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she deadpanned. “There’s another reason I came to see you, though.” At this point she fiddled with a loop on the end of one of her braids. “About my outburst earlier…I wanted to apologize.”

Yoruichi’s expression became serious. “Sui-Feng, I’ve never thought I was better than you. Not in the sense that you are thinking. If I am better than you at a given thing, it’s because I’ve had more years of practice.”

“Logically I know that,” Sui-Feng agreed. She pointed at the stump of her left arm. “I am just overreacting because I have to relearn so much as it is to get used to this.”

“I can see what you mean,” Yoruichi sympathized. “At least it’s not your dominant hand, though. I would be pretty screwed if I lost my left arm.”

Sui-Feng started to say something and then interrupted herself. “Wait, you’re left-handed? Since when?”

Yoruichi raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Since always?” It was her turn to look incredulous. “You mean you never noticed?”

Now that Sui-Feng thought about it, it seemed embarrassingly like the most obvious thing she’d ever missed. Yoruichi was even writing with her left hand at the moment. “I guess I just never put much thought into it since you seem pretty adept with either arm,” Sui-Feng admitted.

“Like I said: lots of practice,” Yoruichi replied with a teasing grin. “By the way, I accept your apology,” she added, her grin turning into a warm smile.

The comment brought Sui-Feng back from the derailment of her train of thought. “While we are on the subject, I was wondering if you would help me rehabilitate.” She held up a hand to stop whatever Yoruichi was about to say. “I promise not to get angry and try to punch you in the face.” She paused. “I promise not to try to punch you in the face when I get angry,” she amended.

Yoruichi couldn’t help but chuckle. “That fact that you know it’s not going to be easy means we are already starting off on the right foot.” She put her pen down and leaned back in the chair. “Speaking of which, when would you like to start?”

Sui-Feng frowned. “I’m not actually sure when our schedules will permit such an undertaking.”

“Retsu wants me to train Kira and Hisagi as well, which I imagine will demand a lot of my time.” Yoruichi picked the pen up and twirled it in her fingers, a thoughtful look on her face. “If you helped me with that we could kill two birds with one stone. Once I find out when I’ll be doing that, I can let you know and we can make arrangements from there. Are you okay with that?”

Sui-Feng nodded. “That sounds reasonable enough.”

“So we’ve got a deal then?” Yoruichi asked. She held out her right hand.

Sui-Feng blushed almost imperceptibly as she grasped Yoruichi’s hand, shaking it as was the custom. “It’s a deal,” she confirmed, letting go of Yoruichi’s hand afterwards. “Unfortunately, I should get going. I can’t leave my oaf of a vice captain alone to his own devices for too long.” She scowled just thinking about it.

Yoruichi smirked. “I understand.” She stood up and grabbed the extra haori on her desk. “I have some things I need to take care of as well, so I can walk you out if you’d like.”

Sui-Feng agreed to being walked out, and they made their way outside before parting ways. Sui-Feng took off in a shunpo, presumably for her own squad’s headquarters. Yoruichi was in no hurry, so she started walking towards her destination, the Shihouin estate. She didn’t miss a beat as Unohana appeared and kept stride with her.

“How did your first day of being a captain again go?" the Captain Commander asked.

“It went a lot better than I expected. Squad 5 has been trained very well,” Yoruichi answered. “It might be the only good thing Aizen ever did.”

“Yes, it would seem so,” Unohana agreed. “You seem to be in a better mood,” the motherly Shinigami remarked, changing the subject.

Yoruichi smiled. “Things are going in the right direction with Sui-Feng. She came and apologized to me for earlier, and then asked if I would help her train. Part of the reason she was upset with me is because of her arm. She’s frustrated with having to relearn everything.”

“Yes, I can see how that would be the case.”

“You healed Hiyori, didn’t you?” Yoruichi asked. “That was quite a feat considering she was in two pieces. Do you think you could bring Sui-Feng’s arm back?”

“That was mending two intact pieces of Hiyori back together, though. I don’t know that returning a limb that is no longer there at all is as feasible as that.” Unohana looked thoughtful. “I am not sure if I could fix it myself, but I will look into it.” She touched Yoruichi’s shoulder. “I have business to attend to now, but I’ll let you know if I find out anything.”

Yoruichi nodded her acknowledgement. With that, Unohana left, and Yoruichi continued on her way. Automatically her thoughts went to planning what kind of training to do with Sui-Feng and with Kira and Hisagi, and before she knew it, she was at home. There were a lot of things she wanted to do to prepare for the training sessions, but since it was growing late already, she decided she would just hem her haori tonight and save the rest of her tasks for tomorrow.